Smoking room with the air renewed by a laminar flow

ABSTRACT

A relaxation space, particularly a smoking room, of the type including elements for renewing the air which elements are provided with supply elements ( 8 ) and with suction elements ( 20 ), the renewing elements including holes distributed over the entire floor ( 13 ) and ceiling ( 9 ) of this space, characterized in that the holes at least in the floor ( 13 ) include at least two parts, namely a downstream part opening into the relaxation space and an upstream part larger in cross section than the downstream part, opening onto the other side of the floor ( 13 ).

The present invention concerns a relaxation space and notably a smokingroom. Smoking rooms are known, notably in countries in which the law hasimposed rules on using tobacco in public spaces, in which smokerscongregate away from convivial areas in which non-smokers are found.Most of the time these smoking rooms are unattractive, notably for twoessential reasons, namely on the one hand their decoration and on theother hand their atmosphere, which, in the absence of efficaciousventilation means, is often difficult to breathe because of thedisagreeable smell that they give off, which smell users find afterwardson their clothing.

It is known in fact that the ventilation means used in premises in whichit is required to renew the air comfortably are generally ineffectivewhen used to ventilate smoky premises, whether or not these ventilationmeans additionally provide an air conditioning function.

Most of the time these ventilation means consist of small ventilationvents that are adapted to supply a flow of clean air to the premises andto extract therefrom a flow of vitiated air. Thus if it is required torenew quickly a large volume of air in premises via small blower/suctionvents, a flow of air circulating at relatively high speed is required.Under these conditions a problem arises because, beyond a certain speed,this air causes a sensation of cold on the skin of the users of thepremises, even if the pulsed air is at a temperature usually consideredto be a comfortable temperature when the air is not moving. Thisphenomenon is known as draughtiness.

One solution to providing a comfortable volume of renewed air at areasonable speed, i.e. without making users feel cold, is to increasethe diameter of the ventilation vents and ducts.

A problem is then encountered in that the ducts are usually disposed inthe suspended ceilings of the occupied premises and this increase in thevolume of the ducts is then reflected in a loss of volume that isdifficult to accept.

Japanese patents JP 06 229584 and JP 04 161749 propose air conditioningdevices in which air is fed from the ground through a perforated platethat is pierced with a multitude of holes and covers the area of theroom to be air conditioned. This air is pulsated with a “piston effect”and evacuated via the ceiling which, to this end, is also pierced overthe whole of its area with a multitude of holes.

It has nevertheless been established that air passing through aperforated plate, in other words a thin wall, tends to generate highlevels of flow noise, even whistling, when the holes are of smalldiameter, of the order of 2 to 5 mm, for example.

Now, when it is required to produce a relaxation space it is desirableon the one hand for the holes in the floor to be of small diameter inorder to avoid problems linked to the small heels of women's shoes andon the other hand, and at the same time, for it to be possible tobenefit in said space from a silence that is not disturbed byventilation noise.

An aim of the present invention is to eliminate these drawbacks byproposing a relaxation space in which the air renewal means are ablewithout difficulty to freshen the whole of the volume thereof withoutusers feeling cold and without causing draughts, by effecting airrenewal by laminar flow.

Another aim of the present invention is to propose the implementation ofsuch a relaxation space in which air is fed in from the entire area ofthe floor and drawn off from the entire area of the ceiling without thesupply of air generating either draughts or perceptible air flow noise.

The present invention therefore consists in a relaxation space,particularly a smoking room, of the type comprising means of renewingthe air, which means are provided with supply means and suction means,said renewing means consisting of holes distributed over the entirefloor and the ceiling of this space, characterized in that the holes atleast in the floor consist of at least two portions, namely a downstreamportion opening into said relaxation space and an upstream portionlarger in cross section than the downstream portion opening onto theother side of the floor.

The outlet section of the downstream hole portion will preferably be ofthe order of one quarter the section of the upstream portion.

The holes will usually be of circular cross section and the diameter ofthe downstream holes may be between 2 and 5 mm and preferably of theorder of 3 mm. Moreover, the diameter of the upstream holes may bebetween 8 and 20 mm and preferably of the order of 15 mm.

In a variant embodiment the holes may consist of a downstream hole, anupstream hole, and an intermediate hole. The diameter of the upstreamholes may be of the order of 12 mm and the diameter of the intermediateholes may be of the order of 8 mm. The length of the downstream holesmay be between 5 and 8 mm and preferably equal to 6 mm. The length ofthe upstream holes may be between 20 and 60 mm and preferably equal to40 mm. Finally, the length of the intermediate holes may be between 5and 15 mm and preferably equal to 10 mm.

According to the invention, the air supply means will be active via thefloor of the premises and the suction means will be active via theceiling thereof.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the relaxation spacewill include a raised floor and a suspended ceiling in which the holesare pierced, the latter holes being distributed in regular manner overthe whole thereof, notably with a density of distribution of the orderof 3000/m², and notably distributed in a quincunx arrangement.

The air will preferably be blown in through the floor and drawn offthrough the ceiling and an upper buffer volume will preferably beprovided between the ceiling and a suspended ceiling into which thesuction means will discharge. In a similar way a lower buffer volumewill be provided between the floor and the ground into which the airsupply means will discharge.

The air supply and suction means of the floor may consist of a one-piecedouble-flow ventilation unit, optionally provided with a heat recoverydevice, and air conditioning means. The flow of air will be laminar.

The air supply means will preferably include temperature and relativehumidity control means, which may include means for their (remote)control, modification and maintenance.

In one beneficial embodiment of the invention the relaxation space willconstitute a modular system capable of being combined with other modulesof the same type. These modules will include a structure comprising theground and a floor, a ceiling and a suspended ceiling, and lateralwalls, which may be of glass, provided with at least one opening, and awall delimiting a box receiving all of the air treatment technicalmeans. The latter may of course be independent.

The supply and suction of air will be effected via manifoldsrespectively connected to the blower means and to the suction means. Theflow rate of the suction means will preferably be greater than the flowrate of the blower means so as to create in the relaxation space aslightly reduced pressure compared to the exterior atmosphere.

Moreover, the base of the access door will be provided with meanssuitable for creating in front thereof a curtain formed by a flow of airat higher speed than the speed of the treatment air in said space. Themeans for creating this air curtain will consist of a slot that extendsat least across the width of the door and will be fed by means adaptedto blow said flow of air on the opening thereof.

The present invention also provides a modular box intended, by joiningtogether a plurality thereof, to constitute a raised floor and/or asuspended ceiling of a relaxation space into which there is admitted aflow of air under pressure via holes regularly distributed over thewhole of the area of the floor and this flow of air is evacuated viaholes regularly distributed over the whole of the area of the ceiling,characterized in that the box comprises a horizontal main face piercedwith said holes and lateral faces pierced with at least onecommunication orifice of all of the boxes, air being blown underpressure into the relaxation space from the boxes forming the floor anddrawn off in this space via the boxes forming the ceiling.

The modular box will preferably include means suitable for connecting itto the adjacent boxes.

Moreover, the holes may consist of at least two portions, namely adownstream portion discharging into said relaxation space and anupstream portion of greater section than the downstream portiondischarging into the interior of the box.

Finally, the modular box may be intended to constitute a floor and/or aceiling of a relaxation space having all the features described above.

One embodiment of the present invention is described hereinafter by wayof non-limiting example and with reference to the appended drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view in vertical section showing the operatingprinciple of a relaxation space of the invention,

FIGS. 2 to 6 are partial longitudinal sections of air supply holes ofthe relaxation space of the invention,

FIG. 7 is a theoretical diagram of air supply and treatment means,

FIGS. 8 a and 8 b are diagrammatic views of a relaxation space of theinvention produced in modular form seen from above and in elevation,respectively,

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view in partial vertical section of a variantembodiment of the invention,

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a box used to supply air to and/orto draw air from the relaxation space of the invention,

FIGS. 11 to 15 are variant arrangements of the boxes, and

FIG. 16 is a view in cross section of a member for fastening the boxestogether.

FIG. 1 shows a relaxation space consisting here of a smoking room 1according to the invention that consists of an architectural envelope inthe form of walls 3, a ceiling 5 and the ground 7. To produce thesmoking room there is at a certain distance under the ceiling 5 asuspended ceiling 9, so as to constitute between them an upper buffervolume 11 which constitutes an air manifold (see below).

Similarly, at a distance above the ground 7 there is a support slab 13or floor so as to provide between them a lower buffer volume 15 alsoforming a manifold.

The suspended ceiling 9 and the floor 13 are pierced over the whole oftheir area with holes 16 that are distributed uniformly, notably in aquincunx arrangement. The distribution density of these holes is of theorder of 3000 per m². Another arrangement or density of the holes couldof course be adopted as a function of the flow parameters of the flow ofair (see below).

It will be remembered that blower floors of the known type consist ofmetal plates pierced over the whole of their area by a great number ofholes. Because of the short length of each of these holes the flow ofair that passes through them suffers no significant head loss, but ithas been established that the flow of air through these holes has theeffect of generating high levels of flow noise.

The present invention aims to produce the floor 13 in a solid materialsuch as wood, preferably of noble species (hardwood), marble, glass,etc. Clearly a floor produced in such materials, to be sufficientlystrong to fulfill its essential supporting function, must be relativelythick compared to a prior art plate. This is why, under theseconditions, the holes generate high head losses, especially if they areof small diameter. Because of the inherent purpose of relaxation spacesof the invention, the holes must be of small diameter i.e. have adiameter less than that of a shoe heel, notably of the so-calledstiletto heel type.

The holes employed in the context of the present invention musttherefore be of small diameter, generate only low head losses, andnevertheless supply a high flow rate of air without the flow of aircreating noise.

It has been established that providing upstream of the portion of thehole that discharges into the premises to be treated another hole ofgreater diameter simultaneously solves the problems relating to the headloss and the problems relating to the noise generated by the flow of airthrough a thin member (a member of the order of 5 to 6 mm thick).

In a first embodiment of the invention that is shown in FIG. 2, thefloor 13 is made from solid wood, notably oak, with a thickness e of theorder of 30 mm. Moreover, the downstream portion 16 a of the hole 16that discharges into the smoking room 1 has a diameter d1 of the orderof 2 to 5 mm and preferably close to 3 mm and a length e1 of the orderof 4 to 7 mm and preferably close to 6 mm. Upstream of this portion 16 athere is another hole portion 16 b with a diameter d2 equal to at leasttwice the diameter d1 of the hole portion 16 a. The length of theportion 16 b extends over the remainder e2 of the thickness of the floor13.

As shown in FIG. 3, the floor 13 may be produced in two portions thatare superposed, namely, on the one hand, a base 13 a, the thickness e2of which may be equal to that of the hole portion 16 b and that couldfor example be produced in a material having good heat and soundabsorbing properties and, on the other hand, a surface layer 13 b, thethickness of which will be equal to the upper hole portion 16 a and thatwill be made of a “nobler” material in order to confer upon the floor 13a quality appearance and that is able to resist scuffing and impact.

Moreover, giving the upstream portion 16 b of the holes a largerdiameter will make it possible to facilitate correct relativepositioning of the two floor portions 13 a and 13 b.

To improve the flow of air in the holes 16 by preventing turbulencegenerating unwanted noise, the hole portion of diameter d2 may bestaggered, as shown in FIG. 4, by producing a third hole portion 16 c ofintermediate diameter d3 disposed just upstream of the downstream holeportion 16 a.

As before, and as shown in FIG. 5, each hole portion 16 a, 16 b, 16 ccould be produced in a layer of different material, each material havingspecific characteristics. Thus the lower layer would constitute themechanical support and could be produced in wood of particle board type,for example, the intermediate layer could be produced in a materialhaving good heat and sound absorbing qualities, and the surface layercould be made from a “nobler” material in order to confer upon the floor13 a quality appearance and that is able to resist scuffing and impact.

As shown in FIG. 6, the hole portion 16 b disposed upstream of thedownstream outlet hole 16 a could be of convergent shape, with theeffect of further reducing disturbances of the flow that generate noise.

For reasons linked to their production, the holes 16 will usually be ofcircular cross section, but for some specific applications they couldequally have other shapes, notably square.

As shown in FIG. 7, the lower buffer volume 15 is provided with apressurized air supply duct 18 and the upper buffer volume 11 isprovided with a suction duct 20.

It is understood, under these conditions, that the volume of the room isswept by a flow of air travelling upward, which has proved particularlyeffective for evacuating smoke generated in it. The air flow rates wouldpreferably be adjusted so that the flow inside the smoking room islaminar.

In one embodiment of the invention the air suction flow rate Q1 will beadjusted to a value greater than the supply flow rate Q2 so as to reducethe pressure in the room slightly. This makes it possible to prevent,notably if the room is used as a smoking room, propagation to theoutside of the room of smoke generated inside it.

The suction flow rate Q1 will be such that it makes it possible to renewthe air in the room between 20 and 50 times per hour and preferablyaround 30 times per hour. Thus in the case of a 45 m³ room, for example,the suction flow rate Q1 will be between 900 and 2200 m³/h and willpreferably be of the order of 1500 m³/h. The lower box will be suppliedat a flow rate Q2 of the order of 30% less than the suction flow rate soas to reduce the pressure in the room slightly. Thus if the suction flowrate is 1500 m³/h, for example, the blowing flow rate into the box willpreferably be of the order of 1100 m³/h.

It has been established under these conditions that the atmosphere inthe room is more comfortable for its occupants and that they do notexperience any discomfort from smells, noise, heat or draughts.

FIG. 7 shows an example of means for supplying/extracting andconditioning the air in the room 1. The air supply duct 18 is connectedvia a sound damper 22 to the outlet 23 of a double-flow ventilation unit25 and the air extraction duct 20 is connected via a sound damper 26 tothe inlet 27 of the ventilation unit 25. The latter draws in fresh airvia its inlet duct 29.

A heat pump 31 is optionally disposed on a branch 33 at the outlet ofthe ventilation unit 25 and used to heat or to cool the air that ispulsed into the room 1, as required.

In a variant embodiment of the invention which is shown diagrammaticallyin FIGS. 8 a and 8 b, the relaxation space is modular and transportable,i.e. all its elements form a movable autonomous assembly. This assemblythus consists of a structure formed of the ground 7 and a perforatedfloor 13 delimiting the air supply box 15, a ceiling 5 and a perforatedsuspended ceiling 9 delimiting the upper suction box 11, and glass walls3′. The far end of the room 1 is closed by a partition 35 delimiting arear volume constituting technical premises 37 accommodating the airsupply/extraction and conditioning means. The front face mayadvantageously consist of glass walls 3′ provided with an access door34. Such a room may be placed permanently or temporarily anywhere thatelectrical power supply means are available.

The various modules may be combined with each other to form an overallvolume, the area of which is adjustable, as a function of therequirements of users.

The relaxation space air supply and control means 25 of the inventionmay be provided with remote control modules for centralized monitoringof relaxation spaces belonging to a plurality of users and interventionto adjust, modify or repair them remotely in a specific manner as afunction of the requirements of each of them.

In another variant embodiment of the present invention the orificesproviding access to the outside, such as the door 34 in particular andany serving hatches, could be provided with an air curtain intended toprevent smoke leaking from the interior toward the exterior atmospherein order, if the relaxation space is used as a smoking room as indicatedabove, to prevent pollution of the surrounding volume by smoke from theroom.

Where the access doors 34 of the room are concerned, for example, and asshown in FIG. 9, by providing in the floor 13 of the premises and acrossthe entire width of the doors 34 a slot 39 through which, on opening thedoors 34, there is produced a pulsed upward flow of air at greater speedthan the flow of air inside the premises, this curtain of air isobtained.

To this end, as shown in FIG. 9, a box 41 may be produced surroundingthe slot 39, for example, that is fed by pressurizing means 43 that areactivated by detection of a feeler 45 connected to the door as soon asthe door is opened and that are deactivated when the door is closed. Amini-box may also be produced in which the air is maintained atincreased pressure at all times and that is provided with openingcontrol means that are activated as soon as the door opens or at alltimes.

In a beneficial variant of the present invention, the floor and/or theceiling of the room may consist of modular elements that are disposedand assembled adjacently side by side.

These modules could advantageously be formed of boxes, the internalvolume of which forms the air distribution buffer volumes of the ceilingand the floor, respectively. As shown in FIG. 10, each box 50 consistsof a horizontal main face 52, of square shape in the present example,and lateral faces 54. These boxes are assembled adjacently, as shown inFIG. 11, i.e. they are joined together via their lateral faces 54, tofill the total area and the overall shape of the room or the room moduleof which they are to constitute the floor or the ceiling.

Thus square modular boxes 50 may be used, the disposition of whichmirrors that of the premises. Thus they may be disposed lengthwise, asshown in FIG. 11, or in an L-shape or T-shape, as shown in FIGS. 12 and13. In order to facilitate matching the shape and the dimensions of thepremises with the corresponding dimensions of the boxes 50, some of thelatter, the boxes 50 a in FIG. 14, may be of smaller size, for examplehalf the size of the boxes 50.

Modular boxes of different shape, for example of rectangular ortriangular shape, may of course be used, as shown in FIG. 15, in whichthe boxes 50 c are the shape of an equilateral triangle or half anequilateral triangle 50 d. Such an arrangement, apart from the resultingesthetic effect, makes it possible to “fill” the shape and the area ofthe premises in which a relaxation space is to be created and notably asmoking room.

According to the invention the lateral faces 54 of the boxes 50 arepierced with openings 56 intended to allow free circulation of air fromthe air inlet or inlets inside the boxes. These openings 56 are disposedso that when the lateral faces 54 of two adjacent boxes are assembledtogether they are face to face.

The modular boxes 50 are advantageously provided with fixing means forfastening them together and making them airtight. Thus screws may beused, or clips 55 that are disposed in recessed housings provided forthis purpose, for example in the lateral faces 54, as shown in FIG. 16.Such clips 55 consist for example of two complementary elements that aredisposed in areas of the lateral faces 54 that are face to face when themodular boxes 50 are in place. One of the complementary elements ofthese clips may include a deformable tongue 61 which, when one clipelement is pressed onto the complementary element during fitting, ispositioned in the latter to prevent it being removed.

Clearly any other fixing element could be used enabling the variousmodular boxes 50 to be fastened together.

Moreover, the principal faces 52 of the modular boxes will be piercedwith holes 16 for injecting the blower flow into the premises. Theseholes will of course be of the same type as those described above in theembodiment of a floor with no boxes.

The main face 52 could either constitute the walking surface or on thecontrary be covered with a plate 60 produced in a material nobler and/orstronger than the material used to construct the boxes 50.

1. A relaxation space, particularly a smoking room, of the typecomprising means of renewing the air (25), which means are provided withsupply means (8) and suction means (20), said renewing means consistingof holes (16) distributed over the entire floor (13) and the ceiling (9)of this space, characterized in that the holes (16) at least in thefloor (13) consist of at least two portions, namely a downstream portion(16 a) opening into said relaxation space and an upstream portion (16 b)larger in cross section than the downstream portion opening onto theother side of the floor (13).
 2. The relaxation space as claimed inclaim 1 characterized in that the outlet section of the downstream holeportion (16 a) is of the order of one quarter the section of theupstream hole portion (16 b).
 3. The relaxation space as claimed inclaim 1 characterized in that the holes are of circular cross sectionand the diameter (d1) of the downstream holes (16 a) is between 2 and 5mm and preferably of the order of 3 mm.
 4. The relaxation space asclaimed in claim 1 characterized in that the diameter (d2) of theupstream holes (16 b) is between 8 and 20 mm and preferably of the orderof 15 mm.
 5. The relaxation space as claimed in claim 1 characterized inthat the holes (16) consist of a downstream hole (16 a), an upstreamhole (16 b), and an intermediate hole (16 c).
 6. The relaxation space asclaimed in claim 5 characterized in that the diameter of the upstreamholes is of the order of 12 mm and the diameter of the intermediateholes is of the order of 8 mm.
 7. The relaxation space as claimed inclaim 1 characterized in that the length (e1) of the downstream holes(16 a) is between 5 and 8 mm and is preferably equal to 6 mm.
 8. Therelaxation space as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the length(e3) of the upstream holes (16 b) is between 20 and 60 mm and ispreferably equal to 40 mm.
 9. The relaxation space as claimed in claim 5characterized in that the length (e2) of the intermediate holes (16 c)is between 5 and 15 mm and is preferably equal to 10 mm.
 10. Therelaxation space as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the airsupply means are active via the floor (7, 7 a) of the premises and thesuction means are active via the ceiling (5, 5 a) thereof.
 11. Therelaxation space as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that it includesa raised floor (7 b) and a suspended ceiling (5 a) in which the holes(16) are pierced, the latter holes being distributed in regular mannerover the whole thereof.
 12. The relaxation space as claimed in claim 11characterized in that the holes (16) are disposed in a quincunxarrangement.
 13. The relaxation space as claimed in claim 1characterized in that the density of distribution of the holes (16) isof the order of 3000/m².
 14. The relaxation space as claimed in claim 1characterized in that the air is blown in through the floor (13) anddrawn off through the ceiling (9).
 15. The relaxation space as claimedin claim 1 characterized in that an upper buffer volume (11) is providedbetween the ceiling (9) and a suspended ceiling (5) into which thesuction means (20) discharge.
 16. The relaxation space as claimed inclaim 1 characterized in that a lower buffer volume (15) is providedbetween the floor (13) and the ground (7) into which the air supplymeans (18) discharge.
 17. The relaxation space as claimed in claim 1characterized in that the air supply and suction means of the floor (13)consist of a one-piece double-flow ventilation unit (25), optionallyprovided with a heat recovery device, and air conditioning means. 18.The relaxation space as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that theflow of air is laminar.
 19. The relaxation space as claimed in claim 1characterized in that the air supply means (25) include temperature andrelative humidity control means (31).
 20. The relaxation space asclaimed in claim 1 characterized in that the temperature and relativehumidity control means (31) include means for their (remote) control,modification and maintenance.
 21. The relaxation space as claimed inclaim 1 characterized in that it constitutes a modular system capable ofbeing combined with other modules of the same type.
 22. The relaxationspace as claimed in claim 21 characterized in that each module includesa structure comprising the ground (7) and a floor (13), a ceiling (5)and a suspended ceiling (9), and lateral walls (3), which may be ofglass, provided with at least one opening (34), and a wall (35)delimiting a box (37) receiving all of the air treatment technicalmeans.
 23. The relaxation space as claimed in claim 1 characterized inthat the supply and suction of air are effected via manifolds (15, 11)respectively connected to the blower means (8) and to the suction means(20).
 24. The relaxation space as claimed in claim 1 characterized inthat the flow rate (Q2) of the suction means is greater than the flowrate (Q1) of the blower means so as to create in the relaxation space aslightly reduced pressure compared to the exterior atmosphere.
 25. Therelaxation space as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the base ofthe access door (34) is provided with means (39, 43) suitable forcreating in front thereof a curtain formed by a flow of air at higherspeed than the speed of the treatment air in said space.
 26. Therelaxation space as claimed in claim 25 characterized in that the meansfor creating the air curtain consist of a slot (39) that extends atleast across the width of the door (34) and is fed by means (43) adaptedto blow said flow of air on the opening thereof.
 27. A modular box (50)intended, by joining together a plurality thereof, to constitute araised floor and/or a suspended ceiling of a relaxation space into whichthere is admitted a flow of air under pressure via holes (16) regularlydistributed over the whole of the area of the floor and this flow of airis evacuated via holes (16) regularly distributed over the whole of thearea of the ceiling, characterized in that the box (50) comprises ahorizontal main face (52) pierced with said holes (16) and lateral faces(54) pierced with at least one communication orifice (56) of all of theboxes (50), air being admitted under pressure into the boxes (50)forming the floor (13) and drawn off via the boxes forming the ceiling(9).
 28. The modular box as claimed in claim 27 characterized in that itincludes means (55) for connecting it to the adjacent boxes (50). 29.The modular box as claimed in claim 28 characterized in that the holes(16) consist of at least two portions, namely a downstream portion (16a) discharging into said relaxation space and an upstream portion (16 b)of greater section than the downstream portion discharging into theinterior of the box.
 30. The modular box intended to constitute thefloor (13) and/or the ceiling (9) of a relaxation space as claimed inclaim 1.